Dedicated to the Character and Cruelty of Stanford Football

10/28/2010

Blogging With the Enemy: Washington Huskies, Part II

With such an important road game, in such a difficult place to play, I figured one preview wasn't enough. John Berkowitz of UW Dog Pound is next on our list of experts to weigh in with his opinion on the game. (You can find my answers to his questions here.) Check it out...

Husky Stadium has always been an intimidating place for opponents, as the 70,000 seat stadium is always full and incredibly loud, even during the Huskys' lean years. For those who've never been to a game there, explain the atmosphere and the effect it generally has on visiting teams.

The stadium just shakes when the crowd gets going because both of the upper decks are cantilevered over the field. The loudest decibel reading ever recorded was at Husky Stadium in the 1980’s. If you are a player on the opposing team, it gets pretty intimidating because you can’t hear your QB’s signals. The prescription for winning in Seattle is to score early and take the crowd out of the game.

If we're to believe Mel Kiper, Jr., Jake Locker would've been the top overall pick in last year's NFL draft if he had chosen to come out, and he was on the short list of Heisman Trophy candidates entering this season. Except for the Nebraska game, he's never really been bad, but he hasn't had the season everyone expected. Aside from the recent injuries, what's gone wrong for him this year?

The offensive line isn’t very good but his speed masks that. When he isn’t mobile because of injury he has the tendency to be a sitting duck back there. Jake projects pretty well as an NFL player but he definitely will need some time when he goes pro. Actually, falling farther in the first round will help him because he will end up playing for a better team.

The Huskies have been alternating wins and losses all season, but if they continue that pattern -- and if they beat Stanford this weekend they just might continue it -- they could still qualify for a bowl game. How have fans responded to this year's ups and downs?

The fans aren’t happy about it, but realistically this program is very comparable to where Stanford was in year two of Jim Harbaugh. We are a couple of recruiting classes away from competing for conference championships.

The trouble, of course, has been the defense. As they prepare to go up against one of the top offenses in the conference this weekend, what has to go right for the Huskies in order for them to pull the upset? Which playmakers on defense should the Cardinal be watching out for?

We need to stop the run and make Stanford one dimensional. Of course, if we stop the run we also need to put pressure on Andrew Luck, who I personally think is the best QB prospect in the country. Stanford is slower than Nebraska and Arizona. They also run the type of offense that Washington has had success against so far this year.

Okay, let's cut to the chase -- how's this game going to turn out? Give me a best case, a worst case, and what you think will actually happen.

The best case scenario for Washington is to get up early by exploiting the leaky Stanford secondary. That worked pretty good against USC and Oregon State. The worst case scenario is that Stanford controls both of the lines of scrimmage and Andrew Luck picks apart the Washington secondary and puts 40 plus points on the board. Honestly, I think the truth is closer to somewhere in the middle. I look forward to a competitive game that will be decided on the last possession.

GMC Book Club

Thanks to a recent donation, as of November 10th, GMC readers have donated a total of 216 books to my classroom! My students are always looking for new and exciting books, so if you'd like to contribute, simply click here! Or, click here to read my original post and find out more!